Golf ball retriever



y 1958 J. A. WILLIAMS 29 GOLF BALL RETRIEVER Filed March 20, 1956 F166 fFIG? mvsuroa J.A. WILLIAMS ATTORQEY' 1 United States Patent GOLF BALLRETRIEVER James A. Williams, Chapel Hill, N. C.

Application March 20, 1956, Serial No. 572,709

3 Claims. (Cl. 294-19) This invention relates to equipment employed invarious types of operations which require substantial additional reach,whether on land, sea or in the air, and more particularly to a golf ballretriever, by means of which golf balls lost in water hazards and inother inaccessible places beyond the reach of man can be easilyretrieved or recovered.

The invention relates to a golf ball retriever which can be carried in agolf bag or golf cart along with a sectional rod or pole and such rod orpole can be set up with the retriever attached and utilized forrecovering golf balls from water hazards and other inaccessiblelocations.

It is an object of the invention to provide a golf ball retriever and asegmental handle both of which can be carried in a golf bag and quicklyassembled and used for recovering a golf ball from an inaccessiblelocation, such device having a golf ball engaging and holding mechanismoperable upon slight contact with the ball to project its fingersaround, engage, and hold the ball, so that it can be withdrawn fromwater or other inaccessible environment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingwherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating one application of the inventionin expanded position;

Fig. 2, a similar view with the parts in contracted position;

Fig. 3, a vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a plan view of a blank employed in producing the head of thedevice;

Fig. 5, a side elevation of a segmental rod or pole;

Fig. 6, a side elevation of a modified form of retriever head;

Fig. 7, a section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8, a section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a segmental shaft and aretriever head, the shaft preferably being composed of a plurality oftelescopic pipe or tube sections so that a pole can be readily made bytelescoping the sections, and the head can be applied and the devicereadily used for recovering or retrieving golf balls from a water hazardor other inaccessible location. The head is provided with means in theform of a set screw for quickly and securely attaching the same to thepole.

The head is composed of a body having opposed jaw or cage formingportions resiliently held separated by means of a pair of pivotallyconnected links, the pivot of which is beyond center and disposed in aposition to be engaged by a golf ball over which the device is appliedso that when the golf ball touches the links they will move to allow thepoles, jaw or cage portions of the head to move toward each other tocontact with and to hold a golf ball. The device is intended to becarried in collapsed condition with a golf cart or golf bag to be usedwhen required, with little effort or loss of time,

' relation for engaging and holding a golf ball.

thereby having a psychological effect on the player by eliminating theexpense of the loss of golf balls.

With continued reference to the drawing, the retriever of the presentinvention comprises a handle 10 composed of plurality of telescopicsections and a head 11, the latter being constructed so that uponcontact with a golf ball it will trip and grip the same so that it maybe removed from an inaccessible location.

The head may be composed of metal which possesses the necessaryspringiness or resiliency, or if preferred, a spring can be added. Inthe first five figures, the head possesses the necessary resiliency,while in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, a helical spring is provided to supply suchresiliency, the head illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 being capable of beingproduced at less cost than that of the remaining figures, although to adegree less durable.

The retriever head of Figs. 1 to 5 may be formed from a blank, as shownin Fig. 4, and include a body or base portion 12 with end flanges 13 and14 having openings 15 and 16 for a clamping bolt 17. The opening 16 ispreferably square, in order to receive the square shank of the bolt andprevent relative rotation, so that a wing nut 18 can be employed forattaching the body 12 upon the pole 10, such body having a generallycylindrical shape.

The body 12 is provided with integral portions 19 and 20, which are inopposed relations and form the side portions of the device. Due to thefact that the mounting portion of the device is of smaller diameter thana golf ball, these integral opposed portions 19 and 20 extend first indiverging and then in parallel relation spaced slightly less than thediameter of a golf ball.

The portions 19 and 20 have curved grappling portions or cage formingextensions 21 and 22 located in opposed These extensions are somewhatsimilar to the fingers of the human hand in that they provide a socketwhich conforms to the exterior of a golf ball. The central extensionwhich corresponds to the middle finger of the hand is somewhat longerand slightly less curved than the extensions at each side of the same toprovide the desired configuration, as will be apparent from Figs. 1 and2.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5, the retriever head is composed ofspring metal and the opposed side portions and extensions tend to remainin their closer relation because of the springiness of the metal andconsequently in such closer relation the opposed extensions are slightlycloser than the diameter of a golf ball and in order to accommodate agolf ball it is necessary that some means be provided for spreading suchopposed portions, so that a golf ball can pass between the same and forholding such opposed portions in such expanded relation until such timeas a golf ball is between them, so it can be trapped and held, whereuponthe spreading means can be rendered inactive as soon as the golf ball iswithin the cage portion of the head in a position to be trapped.

In order to provide means for maintaining the opposed spring metal jawsspaced sufficiently to permit the passage of a golf ball between thesame, a pair of toggle levers 23 and 24 are employed, and they areconnected by means of a pivot 25, and their opposite extremities areconnected by pivots 26 to cars 27 and 28 struck from the opposed members19 and 20. The toggle levers 23 and 24 are adapted to be moved untilthey are slightly off center with the connected ends on the side of thecenter toward the free ends of the members 19 and 20, and in sufiicientproximity to such free ends that when a ball is in position within thecage portion of the head, it will engage such toggle levers and movetheir connected ends in an opposite direction beyond center to permitthe springiness of the head to engage and hold a golf ball.

The toggle levers 23 and 24 are preferably of U-shaped construction toprovide a relatively broad ball engaging area. The toggle lever 23additionally may have outwardly curved portions 29 and 30 which form inelfect a socket or golf ball engaging seat. The structure of the headjust described is simple and inexpensive, and yet will satisfactorilyperform the purpose for which it was designed.

Instead of the head being stamped from a single piece of metal, it maybe made of individual parts, as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, wherein amounting sleeve 31 is provided having a set screw 32 for securing thedevice to the pole 10. Across the end of the sleeve 31 is welded atransverse member in the form of a relatively flat bar 33, to which areconnected by hinges or pivots 34 a pair of identical cage forming sidemembers 35, each having central extensions or fingers 36, and a pair ofside fingers 37, which side members and fingers function as in thepreceding figures like the jaws of a vise to grip and hold a golf ball.

The opposed side members 35 are connected by a pair of links 38 joinedby a pivot 39 and having their opposite ends secured by pivots 40 tobosses 41 and 42 on the side members 35, such bosses being offset toaccommodate the thickness of the links 38.

Centrally of the head a sleeve 43 has one end attached to the transversemember 33 and extends centrally of the head and is provided with a slot44 through which the pivot 39, connecting the links 38, extends, suchpivot being carried by a rod 45 sliding in the sleeve 43 and having acup 46 on the upper end of the same, such cup being of a size to receivea golf ball therein.

The side members 35 are urged toward each other by means of a helicalspring 47. The links 38 and the pivot 39 form in effect a toggle andwhen the pivot 39 is in extreme position slightly beyond center theaction of the spring will tend to hold it in such position with theopposed side members of the cage spread apart so that a golf ball canpass between the opposed fingers 36, 37. When the golf ball enters thecup 46, it will throw the toggle lever beyond center, so that the springwill pull the jaws of the device together to engage and hold the golfball. In

the use of the device described it will, of course, be necessary to setor cock the device, that is, move the toggle beyond center so that itwill operate to grip and hold a golf ball when the toggle is movedbeyond center to thereby release the ball being trapped in the head assoon as it touches the toggle tripping portion of the structure.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for recovering a golf ball comprising a retriever head, apair of opposed members movable toward and from each other, spring meansreacting between and tending to move said members yieldably toward eachother, and a toggle for holding said opposed members in spaced relation,means including a concave ball engaging surface on said retriever andoperatively connected to said toggle and located in a manner to beengaged by a golf ball passing between said opposed members and actingto shift said toggle to cause said members to engage and hold said golfball.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which the concave ball engagingmeans comprises a plunger having a conical concave surface.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which the concave ball engagingmeans is of trough shape and is connected to one of the links of thetoggle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS578,394 Dunn et al Mar. 9, 1897 1,452,679 Fisher Apr. 24, 1923 1,696,817St. John Dec. 25, 1928 2,526,084 Penn Oct. 17, 1950 2,533,230 Dixon Dec.12, 1950 2,549,257 Staunt Apr. 17, 1951

